A west-metro home health care provider has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for aggravated identity theft in an attempt to defraud Medicaid, the U.S. attorney's office said Thursday.

Mustafa Hassan Mussa, of Minnetonka, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in St. Paul on one count of aggravated identity theft in connection with operating Universal Home Health of Golden Valley.

Mussa was charged in August and pleaded guilty in October.

In his plea agreement, Mussa admitted that on May 26, 2009, he sent bogus billings through the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which administers the federal Medicaid program in the state.

The claims indicated that a personal care attendant was providing service to Medicaid recipients when the attendant was not doing so. The U.S. government has recouped more than $700,000 in connection with Mussa's prosecution.

In December, Stephen Rondestvedt, of Minneapolis, was sentenced to 15 months in a related health care fraud case.

Earlier this week, Amazon announced that it's hiring 1,000 more full-time workers at its Shakopee fulfillment center. But city and county officials are still assessing reliable transportation options for the 1,500 people who already work there.